As promised, Budweiser's 60-second Super Bowl spot from Anomaly, released online Thursday, includes footage of a 7-day-old Clydesdale foal. But that's just the beginning of the story.
The spot, directed by Jake Scott, shows the animal growing older—until its breeder must hand it over to the folks at Budweiser. The ad then jumps ahead three years, as the breeder reads in the newspaper that the Clydesdales will be visiting his area.
Hoping for a reunion, he goes to the parade. You can guess what happens from there.
It's a poignant and well-shot commercial—in keeping with some of the better Budweiser ads through the years—made all the more evocative by the use of Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide."
The ad is also somewhat reminiscent of one of the more famous Bud Super Bowl ads of all time—1999's "Separated at Birth," with the Dalmatian puppies who meet later in life under unexpected circumstances. That spot had a comical punch line, though, where this one is pure sentiment.
These 60 seconds are part of Anheuser-Busch's Super Bowl media buy of four-and-a-half minutes in total.